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LAFAYETTE — A Tippecanoe County resident has died from coronavirus, making him the first in Greater Lafayette, county health officials reported Friday afternoon.

The man was older than 60 and had been hospitalized as a confirmed coronavirus patient, The Tippecanoe County Health Department reported. The man died while at IU Health Arnett hospital in Lafayette.

The patient was among the eight confirmed cases reported, as of Friday, in Tippecanoe County as the coronavirus spreads.

Beyond that, the health department declined to give more information, due to medical privacy laws. Health officials noted that they sent the news “with deep sorrow.”

Khala Hochstedler, Tippecanoe County Health Department administrator, said the Tippecanoe County man had not been counted among the 24 deaths reported as of 10 a.m. Friday by the Indiana State Health Department. That number had been up seven since the day before.

Confirmed cases stood at 981 in the state, as of Friday morning, with 336 new cases reported that day.

Of Tippecanoe County other seven confirmed cases, six were isolated at home and one was hospitalized, as of Friday afternoon, Hochstedler said.

Hochstedler said now was the time to pay attention to warnings health officials – including those in Tippecanoe County – have been giving for weeks about a global pandemic manifesting in Indiana and the rest of the country.

“People need to take it more seriously and shelter in place,” Hochstedler said. “The one thing everyone can do is stay home if you are not essential staff. This includes not having friends over, not going to the store just because you are bored. Everyone needs to do their part if we are going to slow down the curve.”

Her plea mirrored the stay-at-home order Gov. Eric Holcomb issued earlier this week, limiting travel to essential business and errands. The goal is to slow the progress of the pandemic by limiting chances it can spread by people coming in close contact.

On Friday, the Indiana State Health Department released first-time demographics about the cases reported so far. Among the findings: More than half of the cases occurred in people over the age of 50, and more than a third occurred in those over age 60. According to the state, about 18 percent of the cases have occurred in people age 50 to 59 and about 18 percent in people age 60 to 69.

More than 1,300 people have died in the U.S. after contracting the coronavirus labeled COVID-19, and tens of thousands of cases have been confirmed across the country.